Food & Dining

Kitchen Whiz: Grocery Gal Guacamole With A Pinoy Twist

Another yummy family favorite comes to the ABS-CBN Lifestyle table! Guacamole, pronounced "gwa-kah-moh-leh," is basically a Mexican dip, like salsa, but instead of a chopped tomato base you have mashed avocado combined with chopped aromatics and spices as your flavor vehicle. The kids may or may not avoid it (because of the Shrek-y green color) but adults of all ages who love fresh dips and Mexican food love my homemade guacamole with crispy tortilla chips (guacamole also goes well with shrimp appetizers). I combine my recipe using a Mexican molcajete but any mortar and pestle or "pang-dikdik" will do, you can also mash in a bowl with a large serving fork. I refrain from using the food processor because it will just turn it into mush and not leave enough texture. You can of course still use it if you have good burst control in your food processor.

Feel free to adjust and seasoning to your liking. Remember to taste at every step when you begin seasoning.

The Filipino twist in my guacamole is I chose to use Philippine lemons or calamansi for the juice in my dip instead of limes. A nod of approval on this choice of citrus came from my personal chat with my friend, Chef Mikko Reyes, who told me while I was at one of his restaurants, "Then your choice of calamansi for your guacamole is even better, because it's a locally sourced ingredient and fresh versus imported limes."

Just a note, the herb wansoy or cilantro gives it that authentic Mexican note (for me it isn't complete without it) but it is not a popular herb flavor with some people. If you have some picky loved ones it might be better to prepare and split a batch, one with cilantro, and one without. If you'd like to watch me making my guacamole on my blog channel I've linked it here.